First Ebola treatment trials to start in west Africa

November 13, 2014 10:26 am

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A doctor holds a syringe containing the Ebola vaccine called ChAd3 during medical trials at the CHUV hospital in Lausanne, on November 4, 2014/AFP

By AGENCE FRANCE PRESSE, GENEVA, November 13- Medical aid group Doctors Without Borders (MSF) said Thursday it would launch clinical trials of three possible treatments for Ebola in west Africa from next month.

The trials to be run in Liberia and Guinea from December give “hope for patients to finally get a real treatment against a disease that today kills between 50 percent and 80 percent of those infected,” said Annick Antierens, who is coordinating the trials with three different research partners.

Two antiviral drugs to be tested — brincidofovir and favipiravir — have been highlighted by the World Health Organization as promising.

Another therapy using blood and the transfer of plasma from Ebola survivors to sufferers would be tested in Guinea, MSF said.

“We need to keep in mind that there is no guarantee that these therapies will be the miracle cure,” warned Antierens.

“But we need to do all we can to try the products available today to increase the chances of finding an effective treatment against Ebola,” she added

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